The Russian space agency Roscosmos acknowledged this Friday a “slight” increase in temperature on board a ship attached to the International Space Station (ISS), as it said safely, two days after a leak potentially due to the impact of a micrometeorite.
“Various tests” were carried out on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, according to Roscosmos, “including measuring the temperature in the habitable space of the spacecraft.” It is now 30°C, the Russian space agency said on Telegram. Normally, the temperature inside the ISS fluctuates around 20 degrees, thanks to the air conditioning system.
“It is a slight change in temperature”, continued Roscosmos, who ensures that this situation “is not critical for the operation of the equipment and the comfort of the station crew”.
A trip planned for March 2023
But the challenge is determining whether the spacecraft will still be able to bring back to Earth two Russian cosmonauts and their American colleague Frank Rubio, whose mission is scheduled to end in March 2023.
The temperature on the spacecraft is currently maintained “by means of the Russian segment of the ISS,” Roscosmos said.
The Soyuz MS-22 leak came on Wednesday as Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin were preparing for a spacewalk, which was ultimately called off.
The source of the leak was identified as being from the Soyuz cooling system, and the liquid was likely coolant.
The images released by the US space agency had clearly shown a jet of white particles abundantly escaping into space from the ship. “Most of the fluid had escaped” by Thursday, NASA said Friday.
“The temperatures and humidity inside the Soyuz spacecraft (…) are within acceptable limits,” the US agency also assured.
According to NASA, a “successful” test of the spacecraft’s engines was carried out on Friday, but other checks continue.
7 people aboard the ISS
A spacewalk scheduled for Monday has been pushed back to Wednesday to allow the station’s Canadian robotic arm to be used to “provide more exterior images of Soyuz on Sunday,” NASA said.
In addition to the crew that arrived on board the Soyuz, four other people are currently on the ISS: the Russian Anna Kikina, the Americans Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, and the Japanese Koichi Wakata. They traveled with an American SpaceX spacecraft.
The ISS is one of the few fields of cooperation still ongoing between Moscow and Washington since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, launched on February 24, and the Western sanctions that followed.
Source: BFM TV
